Other examples, like IBM’s Innovation Jam, focus on braimstorming processes to seek for new product/service ideas. The Innovation Jam, launched for the first time in 2003 (called “Value Jam” at that time) is a huge orchestrated online brainstorming process. In the first execution experiment it just focused on IBM’s employees but in a second iteration in 2006 the process included different partners within IBM’s innovation ecosystem (e.g. customers, suppliers,…).

But crowdsourcing examples may not originate from the need for new ideas only. It can be used for process innovation as well, like GetSatisfaction is showing. This online platform provides the means for crowdsourcing the technical support process. Users are able to register in the platform, enter company names or faulty products they have bought in order to contact other customers who may be experiencing similar issues and might have answers. Many companies are already providing support through this platform, either directly on it -paying power users and through tipping processes- or embedding it within their customer support Web page section. Besides, customers can post suggestions for the existing products, so the platform turns out to be useful both for users and firms in order to stremline technical support processes and as source of innovative ideas as well.

In sum, there are different kinds of uses companies can make of crowdsourcing processes. In coming posts we will be analyzing the different crowdsourcing models to boost innovation processes within firms. Meanwhile you can have a look at this comprehensive list of open innovation & crowdsourcing examples classifed according to different criteria.

So it’s obvious that the main area of concern nowadays is innovation, as the main source of competitive advantage. With the arising of new emerging economies, the business world is turning into an era of extreme competition where the only way to succeed is to innovate⁠. That is exactly one of the building blocks of the Lisbon Strategy set up by the European Commission back in 2005, innovation as the motor of business change.

Three types of innovations can be distinguished nowadays: business model innovation, operational innovation and product or service innovation. In order to innovate in any of these areas an organization has traditionally relied on internal R&D or innovation units. However, with the advent of the social Web, unprecedented collaborative power is at the hands of Web users allowing them to participate in different kinds of projects.

The motivation behind user participation can vary but this phenomenon, coined as crowdsourcing by Jeff Howe, has given birth to well-known initiatives like Wikipedia or Linux (previous to Web 2.0 boom) and has allowed various organizations (e.g.: Procter & Gamble, IBM, Air Products,…) redefine and accommodate their business models and value propositions to customers’ needs in a way nobody had been able to do it before. Crowdsourcing can involve different stakeholders and be leveraged in different ways but from an organization’s perspective the final result can be measured in terms of innovative products, improved processes or even new business models that benefit both the company and its customers. In the following days we’ll introduce several case studies to illustrate this issue.